Traditionally pitting the Pac-12 and Big Ten champions, this year will mark the 100th edition of the Rose Bowl; a big milestone for The Granddaddy of Them All. Some fun facts about the oldest bowl game in college football:
2014 Rose Bowl Game, Michigan State vs. Stanford: TV time, team profiles and more
Will it be two straight Rose Bowl victories for the Cardinal, or can Sparty crash yet another party?
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Alabama has made six trips to Pasadena, the most of any non Big Ten or Pac-12 school.
The Rose Bowl is only usually played on New Year’s Day -- in situations where New Year’s Day is a Sunday, the game is played on January 2nd.
This year’s Rose Bowl theme is “Dreams Come True.” No, really. They have a theme. They do every year.
Pasadena has played host to two different BCS Championship games, including the 2005 matchup between Texas and USC, an incredible 41-38 win for the Longhorns. Vince Young’s 467 yards of total offense that night is still a Rose Bowl record.
This year, two defensive powerhouses will square off, as the Michigan State Spartans will face the Stanford Cardinal.
Date and time, ET: January 1st, 4:30 p.m. ET. Kickoff is set for 5:10 p.m. ET.
TV channel: ESPN
Location: Pasadena, California
Stadium: Rose Bowl (92,542 capacity)
Tickets: Find available seats here.
Last year’s score: 20-14, Stanford over Wisconsin
Last year’s attendance: 93,359
Last year’s TV rating: 9.6 (17 million viewers)
Last year’s payout for each school: Reports place the total somewhere in between $17 to 18 million.
Team with the most all-time appearances: USC leads the way with 32. Their last appearance was in 2009.
Team with the most all-time wins: Also USC -- the Trojans have 23 wins in Pasadena.
Michigan State (12-1, 8-0 B1G)
An 11-1 regular season and a Big Ten championship win marked a fantastic regular season for the Spartans, who were simply suffocating to all they faced. They bludgeoned Michigan, suppressed Ohio State, and as a result of their defensive efforts the Spartans get to take a trip to Pasadena, where they will face a Stanford Cardinal team that is, in many ways, just like them.
It is very rarely pretty with this year’s Spartans, who pride themselves on defense and on generating just enough offense to win. The stars on the nation’s number one defense are quite numerous, with a whopping seven players selected to the All Big-Ten Coaches first team. Those include cornerback Darqueze Dennard (4 interceptions, 8 passes broken up) and Denicos Allen (83 tackles, 15.0 for loss, 5.5 sacks, 10 quarterback hits). This also sets up an interesting strength on strength matchup with Stanford, as the Spartans are also the nation’s top-ranked rushing defense. Expect things to be physical, ugly, and generally nasty between the two.
Last bowl game: 2012 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl vs. TCU, 17-16 win
Last year without a bowl: 2006
All-time bowl record: 9-14
Head coach’s bowl record: Mark Dantonio, 3-4
Stanford (11-2, 7-2 Pac-12)
The transition from Jim Harbaugh to David Shaw continues to go very smoothly for Stanford, who captured another Pac-12 title and will be headed to a fourth straight BCS bowl game. The Cardinal started the year with five straight wins, including victories over ranked Arizona State and Washington teams, before a stunning road loss to Utah in mid-October.
Stanford recovered nicely from that loss, and they had to; their next three games were against No. 9 UCLA, No. 25 Oregon State and No. 3 Oregon. The Cardinal defeated each of those teams through a combination of stout defense and a strong running game, but fell again in mid-November to an unranked USC team. A second loss for Oregon gave Stanford the Pac-12 North title, and they easily defeated Arizona State 38-14 in the Pac-12 title game.
Last bowl game: 2013 Rose Bowl, 20-14 win vs. Wisconsin
Last year without a bowl: 2008
All-time bowl record: 11-12-1
Head coach’s bowl record: David Shaw, 1-1
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